The North Face
The North Face delivers online customer care as advanced as its products.
Executive Summary
Deploying BoldChat has been a major win for The North Face.
- 21%Improvement in Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- 212%Increase in chat volume since deploying in 2010
- 33%Increase in conversions since staffing a dedicated chat team
- 94%Average chat customer satisfaction (CSAT) score
"BoldChat enables us to provide more detailed information consumers need in a very concise and customized manner. As a result, our conversion rate has increased 33% and our NPS has improved 21%."
Challenge
For more than 40 years, The North Face has created performance outdoor clothing and equipment using cutting edge materials and technologies. Providing customer care as exceptional as its products is one of the company’s core commitments. To keep its online customer care the best it could be, The North Face decided it needed a live chat and email management tool that:
- Would drive sales and conversions and boost customer satisfaction
- Enhanced the overall customer experience
- Allowed representatives to quickly and easily answer questions about products with increasingly technical features and specifications
- Offered flexible pricing to accommodate seasonal fluctuations
- Was simple to implement, intuitive to use, and could be managed completely in house
Solution
The North Face rigorously tested several providers and quickly realized that BoldChat hit all the marks. After the initial implementation, The North Face entered into a 3-month professional services engagement to take their chat strategy to the next level. The BoldChat professional services team helped The North Face implement strategic new chat features and tactics, including adaptive canned messages, proactive chat, dual monitors and layered chat, and provided additional development support as needed. To maximize the impact of its chat strategy, The North Face also created an 11-person core chat team, with reps chosen for their skills and product knowledge. Empowered with the capabilities of BoldChat, these dedicated agents can now provide truly in-depth product support.
Results
Deploying BoldChat has been a major win for The North Face.
Based on The North Face’s success with BoldChat, its parent company, VF Corporation has also rolled out live chat and email management to additional brands, including Timberland, Vans, Lucy, JanSport, Reef and Smartwool.
Since staffing a specialized chat team, their conversion rate has increased 33%, and their Net Promoter Score (NPS) has improved 21%, as reps are able to provide more detailed and customized support.
Chat volume has increased 212% since deploying in 2010, as consumer preferences shift to digital support channels.
Their dedicated chat team is able to handle 41.8% more inquiries than their phone reps.
The North Face’s chat customer satisfaction (CSAT) score averages 94% – 24% higher than the industry average for Apparel companies, and 18% higher than the industry average for Internet Retailers.
